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With Adoption of Multicore Technology Increasing, Online Forum Emerges to Tackle Technical Obstacles and Marketing Issues in Embedded Networking Software for Multicore PlatformsForum’s Focus on Packet Processing in Multicore-Based Architectures Addresses a Key Industry Challenge, Drawing Contributions from Engineers and Marketers at Many Multicore-Related Companies Around the World

Mountain View, California – Dec.15, 2009 – A new online forum has emerged for designers and marketers of multicore-based architectures to address embedded software challenges they face. The forum – Multicore Packet Processing Forum – focuses on technical and marketing issues related to embedded networking software for multicore platforms, now a key industry challenge. Engineers and marketers from companies such as 6WIND, Cavium Networks, Interphase Corporation, NetLogic Microsystems and Nokia Siemens Networks have so far contributed posts to the forum. The Multicore Packet Processing Forum is moderated by 6WIND and is open to contributions from anyone involved in embedded networking for multicore technical or marketing issues. The forum is available online at http://www.multicorepacketprocessing.com.

Multicore technology continues its rapid growth in a myriad of applications. The telecommunications and data communications markets adopted multicore solutions early to achieve the demanding performance required of Next Generation Networks (NGN). However, developing efficient packet processing software for multicore processors is a key industry challenge. The forum focuses on this, providing a means for the exchange of ideas and insights as well as other information and resources about embedded networking software for multicore systems. The end goal is to help embedded software engineers better understand how to more easily benefit from multicore technology.

“The forum is just getting started and already we have dozens of posts covering issues such as ‘packet processing and IP convergence’ or ‘virtualization for network-based multicore telecommunication systems’ and ‘performance benchmarks for packet processing’ among many other related posts,” said Eric Carmès, CEO of 6WIND. “We welcome contributions, whether periodic or on a more regular basis, from anyone involved in designing equipment or marketing products using embedded networking software for multicore-based architectures. This includes welcoming contributions from media, analysts, investors and the like.”

Industry Contributions

“Cavium Networks is a leader in multi-core MIPS64 and ARM processors with industry leading hardware acceleration for networking, wireless, storage and security applications,” said Kin-Yip Liu, Director, Customer Solutions Architecture at Cavium Networks. “We look forward to our continued support and contribution to the new Multicore Packet Processing Forum. Our goal is to provide unbiased technical information that will help enrich multi-core solutions for OEMs incorporating multi-core processors into their system designs.”

“Multicore technology has become essential in next-generation telecommunications network infrastructures because of its ability to scale to address the growing requirements for managing wire-speed gigabit packet processing,” said Marc DeVinney, VP of Engineering at Interphase Corporation. “To maximize multicore’s potential, users need flexible and seamless customization and optimization capabilities. The Multicore Packet Processing Forum can be an essential venue for engineers to have meaningful dialogue about best practices and other topics of interest to enhance an engineer’s means to achieve desired customizations, optimizations and ultimately to maximize performance.”

“Advanced multi-core processors provide improved performance and functionality for next-generation systems and applications; however these processors also introduce new design challenges that system-level designers need to comprehend and optimize for in order to take full advantage of the superior performance offered by the multicore processors ,” said Mark Litvack, Senior Director of Business Development for NetLogic Microsystems. “The Multicore Packet Processing Forum provides a convenient venue for embedded designers to engage in meaningful dialogue to overcome design obstacles. NetLogic Microsystems has contributed a paper on the advantages of multi-threading in next generation multicore processors. This paper describes the superiority of multi-threading architectures and we look forward to making additional contributions to the forum.”

"I applaud the idea of an unbiased and pure technology-driven Multicore Packet Processing Forum, where many industry experts, analysts, system integrators and vendors can introduce their view of this important technology,” said Alexander Bachmutsky, Chief Architect at Nokia Siemens Networks. “It is very obvious that multicore will be with us and will probably displace single-core processors even in the lowest end products. It is also a well-known fact that the software for multicore trails the hardware achievements. This Forum can help to promote the required speedup in the software, software technologies and software architecture development for packet processing applications running in multicore environments."

The Multicore Packet Processing Forum features various types of resources. The Home tab provides blog posts and commenting. A Document Database tab features dozens of papers available for download – technical papers, marketing papers and white papers. A Press Releases tab highlights news from many companies in the multicore market. A Company Links tab provides web links to companies – software; multicore processor; multicore board and appliance vendors, and to industry research firms and publications, among others. A Contributions tab provides a forms-based opportunity to submit contributions with supporting images. An Info tab provides information contributors should review prior to posting. Other links exist, such as to other blogs and resources for multicore.

About 6WIND
6WIND provides high-performance packet processing embedded software solutions used by networking and telecommunications companies providing equipment for converged, all-IP networks. The company’s 6WINDGate™ solution maximizes the packet processing performance of single- and multicore platforms from several processor suppliers, allowing customers to focus on their own value-added software applications and minimize their time-to-market. To ensure the availability of a complete system-level ecosystem, 6WIND partners with industry-leading suppliers of multicore processors, board-level products, operating systems and embedded software products worldwide. 6WIND is a privately-owned company based near Paris, France with a subsidiary in California, a sales and support office in Asia, and an R&D center in Beijing, China. For more information, visit www.6wind.com.